Cornyn accuses IRS of ‘serious breach of faith’ over targeting of conservatives

The IRS has received flack for its scrutiny of Tea Party groups. (AP Photo/Susan Walsh)

The Internal Revenue Service has received endless criticism from conservatives recently after conservative organizations were targeted for what Texas Sen. John Cornyn calls simply “exercising their constitutional right to free speech.”

In response to a letter sent to Iowa Sen. Chuck Grassley from the IRS admitting that they had wrongly examined tax records collected from both campaign donors as well as some candidates, Cornyn responded tartly, saying the IRS is creating a “culture of mistrust.”

“These abuses by IRS officials are beyond inappropriate; they’re a serious breach of faith with the American people and are potentially violations of our criminal law,” Cornyn declared. “These actions make it extremely difficult to trust both the motivations of this Administration and their interest in working together on real solutions for the issues of the day.”

Cornyn’s website features stories from multiple Texas residents who have undergone extensive questioning from the IRS. Multiple accounts are from individuals who are members of right-wing organizations such as the King Street Patriots and True The Vote, both conservative groups founded by Catherine Engelbrecht, who clashed with the IRS extensively earlier this year.

“The timing of it all is very troubling, especially considering we’ve been married and in business nearly 20 years and never once had any of these agencies contacted us in any way prior to my filing for non-profit status,” said Engelbrecht.

The conservative Texas senator has invited more his constituents to share their stories of being unfairly audited by the IRS on his website.

The large majority of the stories that have been posted on the website feature constituents who were blindsided by their experience with the IRS, saying that they had no idea that an audit or an investigation was coming until it was on top of them.

“My husband and I were audited for the first time after joining the TEA party in 2009. The audit was in 2012 for tax year 2009,” Deborah Deats of Dickinson shared. “We do not have a personal business, nor do we take any unusual deductions.”

Texas Patriots Tea Party President Barry A. Schlech said that his organization realized that the questions being asked were out of the ordinary, “intrusive and seemingly politically-based,” but there was little that they could do other than comply.

“Unfortunately, the IRS held all the cards,” he said. “We had to address or answer their questions in order to get their approval of our application. We are still waiting for approval.”

In response to these accounts, Cornyn assured his constituents that he would not “unfairly [dismiss] these folks as subscribing to wild conspiracy theories.”

“Well, we found out the Texans who were targeted were right and the IRS was wrong,” he said. “These abuses are not simply inappropriate, they’re a breach of faith and potentially violations of criminal law.”

Cornyn also made it clear that not only does he disapprove of the actions taken by the federal government, but he will not stand idly by while the IRS investigates his far-right voters.

“The IRS owes all Texans an apology for violating the public trust,” he said. “And I demand that the Justice Department work swiftly to hold the responsible parties accountable.”